This is the 1st of the 3 threads we said we would create (the others 2 to come being Midfield & Attack).

Defence for us is an area with many uncertainties.

---RB seems to be the only position where we dont need new faces: we already have england's n°1 rb GJ, and Kelly who can pressure him for the starting spot (plus the promising Flanno).

---At LB we definitly need a new player who will directly slot in the starting line-up (Konch & Insua will leave, Aurelio should also leave imo, but i wont be too upset if he stays as a squad player. and then we have the youngs Flanno & Robbo, 18 & 17 respectively: still have plenty of time to develop, for now they can stay as rotaion players/reserve, or go on loan).Who would be your choice for the new face? (mine is Cissokho).

---But what about CB now?-It seems like everybody is accepting that the coming season will be Carra's last as starter, but wouldnt that be one season too many? (as he will be 34 in a few months...).-Is Skrtel good enough to start each one of our games?-As talented as he is, should we sell the glass man that is Agger, so we can have found to bring in someone who will be a starter? And who should be that new player? Cahill?Jones? Rumour seems to show that hes the one we are after. But hes only 19...Is he that better than Kelly at CB? or what about the other defender who's also 19 who came with so much hype: Wilson? (heard hes about to be loaned back to Rangers. how do you rate him?). then there is Wisdom who looks also very promising, lets see how he will develop. and finally Ayala, but this one is unlucky not to be british i would say

As for GK: we have 1 who is in the worlds top 5, Reina and wo committed recently, not much else to say tbh.And instead of spending money on an old cover who will even never play (Doni?...), lets just let that bench spot to one of our young, homegrown GK.

There are a lot of rumours that Gulacsi will go out on loan this season, and hence the interest for a second choice keeper (First Friedel and then Doni). Brad Jones will probably be off too...probably the most useless purchase we will make, but you never know with injuries.

They should stay at Melwood and continue to develop, I don't want another Insua out of any them. No pressure and more hard work.

LB - 1.New LB2.Aurelio

Considering Aurelio won't be playing that much, He will stay fit for maximum 5 months this year. So a new LB is the ONE of the main priorities this summer.A fit Aurelio as back up is just fine.

CB- Agger has resumed his recovery from Injury whilst he is on a Holiday. Class but made of Glass. "The Dan Agger Effect". Enough said.

Kyrigiakos's contract is expiring in the summer. There seem to be no news or any sign of intent from Liverpool to renew it.Lets see where this goes. He has played his part. If he leaves, I will be satisfied with what he has done of Liverpool.

Skrtel - Reliable, Solid. Could concede penalties with all the love he makes in the penalty box.

Carragher- Going to be 34 as Nj said earlier is this thread. We need somebody to fill in the major void that will be left when he retires. Cahill rumors seemed to have died down. Jones looks the right guy to 'replace' him.

RB- Hmmm, I would rotate Kelly and Johnson. Kelly is more complete ie his defending is miles better than Glen but Glen adds that extra spark in attack while leaving wide gaps that get exploited by wingers.No need for new faces here. Rotation and everyone is happy except Glen

As for the Youth -

CB- We have Wisdom, Mind you he is a starlet, Great things are expected from this lad. Captain of the U19 England team.

Sama and Regan are still too young. Regan is known for his aerial ability and has scored lots of goals this campaign.

LB- RobinsonRB- Flano - both have been discussed earlier

LB - Brad Smith is an unfamiliar name but one to remember, He has been selected in the U17 England squad. While Tom king has been selected by U17 Australia.

CB/CDM - Conor Coady. He has a Gerrard like shot, Can play CB or CDM. Currently takes Penalties for the youth team. He is the future.

Now GK - Reina - Didn't have the best of season last year, But hey? Which one of our players had? Will be looking to improve and hopefully can turn out to be a legend for us.

Jones- Looks set to leave for a championship club.

Second choice - We lost out on Friedal but Doni looks set to complete his transfer and as Iftikhar made a brilliant point, He can be stop gap until Gulacsi matures.

Gulacsi- Big things are expected from this lad. Lets see if he goes on Loan this year.Hansen - Third choice. Has made some appearances on the bench, not off it

Tyrell Belford and Jamie Stephens are the other young GK's both have been a part of U17 project.

GK: Reina is awesome. Yes, he is somewhat susceptible in the air but even then he is one of the best keepers around. With his fitness record, playing in 90% of the matches since debut, there can be hardly any concern for back-up. It seems we are on course to sign Doni (who in my view is worse than Brad Jones or Diego Cavalieri) but I would have preferred the youngsters getting some games.

CB: Carragher can’t be an automatic choice any more, Kyrgiakos will leave and Wilson has already been sent on loan. That leaves us with Skrtel (who can be erratic at times), Agger (who is immensely talented & injury-prone) and Ayala (who has barely featured for senior team) for primary partnership. While Jones might be immensely talented it’s doubtful if he is mature enough to marshal our back-line. IMO, Skrtel-Agger is still our preferred CB-partnership with Carragher & Jones being rotations.

RB/RWB: With Glen & Kelly fighting for regular spot and the likes of Darby & Flanagan as back-up, this position seems well covered. If the Jones signing goes through it will tie Kelly at right-flank.

LB/LWB: this is THE key area for improvement. Apart from Aurelio (who has sublime skill and a crooked leg) there is no genuine LB/LWB. While Glen, Kelly, Flanagan, Robinson or even Agger can be drafted for extremities, a quality LB/LWB is essential. Be it Enrique, Cissokho or Clichy; we need a proven (& with strong fitness) to cover for 30 games each season.

from the very few ive seen from Jones (i admit, only few games & yt vids ) he already looks, if not as good as Skrtel, already better.

he looks to be the real deal tbh.

so if he came, imo that would mean Agger is sold,and given that i dont see Carra benched, i could see a Carra-Jones all english partnership: the leadership & experience + the youth & talent. (with Skrtel on bench)

Let's not get carried away. Skrtel is better than Jones. Jones definitely can be better, though.

Look's like Jones will take either Carragher or Agger's spot.

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Sorry Carra should have been slowly phased out from last season.Atleast it should be done next season.He is past his best and should be behind Agger and Skrtel.And if we buy a CB he will probably be 4th choice.

Also i dont think Carra was our best CB at any stage of his career apart from a couple of season in 2006-07& 2007-08.But thats just my opinion.

I think, from the purely defending point of view...Carra is still the best CB we have. Yes, he lacks pace and makes mistakes sometimes, but he prevents shit load of goals with last ditch defending and blocking.

HOWEVER, his hoofing is a concern, especially when AC is on the pitch, and it gets annoying sometimes (though he got better at it towards end of the season).....He's still a very good player, and a top bloke as well

He'll be rotated. He's getting past his peak, we need to stop playing him depending on him all the time, or else we'll feel it when he retires. He's a legend though. Love him.

_________________Red is the colour of extremes. It's the color of passionate love, seduction, violence, danger, anger, and adventure. The colour red is the color of energy, passion and action. This colour is a warm and positive color associated with our most physical needs and our will to survive.Red represents power and courage. The colour red is the basis of the traditional red power tie or red suit in the business, and the red carpet for celebrities and VIPs. Red's association with courage and bravery makes it a colour that is used often in national flags, on shields, and in achievement patches. Liverpool. Is. Red.

Irish_Catalan_Scouser wrote:The Skrtel-Agger partnership will never be our answer imo.

Carragher may be a hoofer but the extra assurance he gives us in defence cannot be overlooked.

Agger and Skrtel is a better pair than Agger and Carra IMO.Carra is bit slow nowadays to suit the way we play.Ideally i would prefer a CB better than Skrtel in air to be bought in to pair Agger.

Whatever happens Skrtel and Carra should only be our last choice and be paired in desperate times.

Are you serious. Under Kenny they have performed very well as a partnership.

Kept a good few clean sheets, and comfortably at that.

I honestly think people need to realise sooner rather than later that Agger's injury problems are most likely not going away.

The problem is neither of them are good enough to bring the ball out of defense.They inevitably hoof the ball bypassing the midfield when under pressure.They did it plenty of times under Kenny too carra in particular.We should always have a ball playing defender all the time.Also Agger is our best defender and whenever he played last season we looked far more assured than when he wasnt playing.

As for his injury problems he is apparently having special treatment to overcome his injury woes.Hopefully both Gerrard and Agger have injury free seasons.

Irish_Catalan_Scouser wrote:The Skrtel-Agger partnership will never be our answer imo.

Carragher may be a hoofer but the extra assurance he gives us in defence cannot be overlooked.

Agger and Skrtel is a better pair than Agger and Carra IMO.Carra is bit slow nowadays to suit the way we play.Ideally i would prefer a CB better than Skrtel in air to be bought in to pair Agger.

Whatever happens Skrtel and Carra should only be our last choice and be paired in desperate times.

Are you serious. Under Kenny they have performed very well as a partnership.

Kept a good few clean sheets, and comfortably at that.

I honestly think people need to realise sooner rather than later that Agger's injury problems are most likely not going away.

The problem is neither of them are good enough to bring the ball out of defense.They inevitably hoof the ball bypassing the midfield when under pressure.They did it plenty of times under Kenny too carra in particular.We should always have a ball playing defender all the time.Also Agger is our best defender and whenever he played last season we looked far more assured than when he wasnt playing.

As for his injury problems he is apparently having special treatment to overcome his injury woes.Hopefully both Gerrard and Agger have injury free seasons.

OK I think we place different levels of importance on certain attributes of our defenders.

For me, if a CB can play the ball out of defence well it's a bonus. I don't care that much if they hoof as long as they do their jobs and get a clean sheet.

Yes, if we are in need of a goal and we keep hoofing it, it can be extremely frustrating. But I still maintain that the primary job of the CB is to stop goals not to help create them.

I think Skrtel actually brings the ball out of defense. Not as good as Agger, but he definitely isn't a hoofer. However, with Skrtel, you either get a WORLD CLASS game (towards end of the season) or absolute DISASTER (when Carroll literally tore him to shreds in SJP). Still a solid 3rd choice....I wonder what will happen to Agger in summer. will be interesting

Sepi wrote:I think Skrtel actually brings the ball out of defense. Not as good as Agger, but he definitely isn't a hoofer. However, with Skrtel, you either get a WORLD CLASS game (towards end of the season) or absolute DISASTER (when Carroll literally tore him to shreds in SJP). Still a solid 3rd choice....I wonder what will happen to Agger in summer. will be interesting

Skrtel didn't have one bad game under Kenny when his confidence was high. All his bad games were under Roy. I believe we'll build our defence around Martin. Jamie is getting passed it whilte DAgger has too many injury problems. Watch Skrtel closely. He hardly puts a foot wrong and can play a full season.